ajfelice

While their locations seem to be decent in terms of appearance, Darien Lake's Mind Eraser and Ride of Steel really do not seem well integrated into the flow of the park. Both are down dead end paths of decent length. Even worse is how Ride of Steel's area seems to be an intended park expansion area that never really happened with the exception of Ride of Steel. I wouldn't be so upset about the dead ends if there wasn't just one attraction down each path. Flight of Fear and Firehawk at KI also seem out of place when you are in that area of the park. You feel like you stepped out of KI for a little bit when walking under Racer over to them.

Not completely sure how Cedar Fair goes about it, but my interpretation from a small amount of experience is that the rule of thumb was to always go up with all trains barring any restrictions due to weather, maintenance, or other restrictions from above the Leaders at the ride. Ride Hosts are usually responsible for transferring on and off the proper number of trains/ride vehicles (really simple to do actually). When working at Waldameer, the decision for one or two trains on Ravine Flyer II or Comet is at the discretion of the rides manager, maintenance, and sometimes myself when they are unsure. Operators are not trained to transfer trains or make decisions on how many to operate at Waldameer. Overall, it depends on the company, and from what I can tell from asking around other parks, the operators on the platform next to never are allowed to just operate one train just because they are lazy or feel like it, the number of trains depends on a variety of outside factors.

Gatekeeper only transferred off one of the three trains at the end of the night. The other two were left in the station and the main brake run. So add that to the exception list. Weird Coaster Fact: A small, microscopic flat spot on a Maurer Spinning Coaster car wheel will cause it to make a B&M roar as it goes through the course. Another Weird Coaster Fact: if you have a connection or somehow convince a Kennywood Ride Op on Exterminator, they will push a foot pedal right before dispatch so that you spin the entire ride. It's absolutely nuts on those rare rides.

I went to Fun Spot during the week of IAAPA, and after several rides on White Lightning I got bored and kinda jealous of the park workers because they were having so much fun. I wanted to stop riding and just operate White Lightning or simply work in their Rides Department for the rest of the night. I'm so nerdy that I wanted to give up a virtual ERT session to operate a coaster.

From my experience coming into close contact with ride manufacturers and official ride manuals at work and through some other discussions, height restrictions are determined through a variety factors including G-force. Vekoma is one manufacturer I have had zero contact with, but it sounds reasonable to use G-force as one of their main determinants of the height restriction.

The height restrictions at Cedar Point are pretty baffling. The most ridiculous being 48" Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Typically I have seen 42" for this kind of coaster, sometimes even 36". As for Blue Streak, I could see it being more justified at 48" when it used to have single position lap bars. Then again, Knoebels gets away with those lap bars and a 42" restriction on Phoenix. Perhaps Blue Streak could be considered to require 42-48" to ride with a responsible person. Same goes with Mine Ride, and based on the tame nature of Iron Dragon, I could argue that as well. I know that 99% of new rides have height restrictions automatically set by the manufacturer, so I wonder how things were determined for some of the older ones like the three rides I just mentioned. I know many of the older rides in many parks were built without the manufacturer setting a requirement for height, leaving that decision up to the parks. I guess the reasons behind the height restrictions at CP might never be fully known to us here at TPR, but I think we all can agree CP is in desperate need of coasters and flats that cater to the "medium kids."

At Waldameer, I know I'm going to see a huge wave pool larger than many of our nearby large water parks (bigger than Cedar Point, Sandcastle, and possibly Darien Lake) along with revamped changing facilities, more concession options, and luxuries like cabanas. However, what I want to see is our attendance projections to come true which is estimated to be an increase close to 20%. Putting that into perspective, Ravine Flyer II increased attendance by 20% and revenues by over 30% in 2008 and we haven't looked back as we have had all but one season beat 2008 since then. I can only imagine another 20% increase on top of what Ravine Flyer II brought us. Challenge Accepted.

^Darien Lake Discussion Thread

My short stint on GateKeeper this past September and October redefined what I call good spiels. If the person you are describing is who I think it is, they are easily one of the most enthusiastic and passionate about his job person I have ever met. GK was a privilege to work partly because everyone was so proud of what they were doing and excited to bring their excitement for GK to the guests. I loved the guest interactions in terms of entertainment so much on GK that I'm in the process of again rewriting spiels for coasters in my main park of work. I hold a theory that the more fun, entertaining, and passionate you act towards guests, the more cooperative they tend to be with park rules and safety measures. Even beyond GK, Cedar Point is the model of fun guest interactions by the operators in general. The only other parks I have seen come close to that level of that amount of enthusiasm were Fun Spot and actually Hard Rock Park. Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, and Holiday World may have all been the "nicest" ops I have seen, but they are nowhere near the level of entertaining as CP ops tend to be.

^To be honest Dr. M, I don't buy it. If this is such a common occurrence in the enthusiast industry which makes up the smallest sliver of fraction of park goers, we would be hearing a huge outcry from the GP. Therefore, I don't buy all the accounts for a second. Sorry if I upset someone who posted above. Restraints do not usually unlock and relock on a lift hill or any other park of the course that isn't the station. Restraints don't randomly unlock on modern coasters as the train is dispatched either. Someone would have to find access to the manual unlock switches. If a restraint failed completely, chances are it wouldn't relock normally like nothing happened. One thing that always gets me are loose set screws on PTC lap bars that make them wobble side to side and feel like they are being held on by a thread (there is no danger, but I just don't like the feeling). Another one is the new B&M harnesses on Wing Coasters and now Inverts when you can pull them down really fast and they will sometimes go back up a few inches, but the restraint will go down as far as you need them to go once you slowly lower them all the way.

Exactly how I view world travel or any travel that might be offered to me. The first thing I look up when preparing for a trip or vacation are the chances of getting a credit or two.

Hold on there partner. Last time I checked, ARM drop tower seatbelts or drop tower seatbelts in general only come undone if you are playing with them. I find it very hard to believe as the ride vehicle is slowly ascending that a seatbelt would magically unbuckle unless you did something to undo it. Also, before the ride even starts when those seatbelts are buckled, they complete an electrical circuit in which an unbuckled seatbelt would prevent the ride from starting. The seatbelt sensors are very sensitive as well, as anytime a seatbelt buckle gets mildly worn or even slightly "loose" the ride will not start.

So I take it a Team Leader would decide whether or not Magnum set-up due to you just being sluggish or a guest impeding your efficiency. Sounds a lot more reasonable. Perhaps my sources heard too many horror stories from there to make it seem much more harsh. Believe it or not, I want the challenge of Magnum should I return for some HalloWeekends again after hearing those stories of how many people that ride goes through due to the grueling pace of that ride. My favorite guest complements are about efficiency, because people are so much more pleasant when they feel like attempts are made to move long lines. Magnum would be a great test for efficiency. However, if I were to come in as a latecomer again that doesn't give me too much leverage on ride placement.

Now that is something you don't normally see on a Christmas List...

There is a weather camera for a local news station on top of Ravine Flyer II's lift that usually just shows Presque Isle, but during the last big snowstorm early last week, it got blown around and showed some interesting stuff. I found the images out of luck because I just wanted to see the storm coming in off the lake. I checked it again after a few minutes and the camera blew around to another cool angle. Here is one from last March I took on my old phone. If you look closely near the bottom of the picture you can see the crushed track caused by a large tree falling on it when Hurricane Sandy came through.

There! Happy Now?!

The Secrets to Keeping Gatekeeper Efficient (from experience working GK): 1. Once the train parks, open the air gates. You might think this is a recipe for a clusterf*ck, but it works. 2. If you are loading sections that are not the front, and a line of exiting guests is preventing oncoming guests from boarding, politely hold back the exiting guests so the oncoming guests can be seated. By the time you are done checking restraints the exiting guests will be long gone out of the way. 3. Learn to spin and move through people like Wayne Gretzky. 4. That stupid bag rule works. I believe they should find a way to install more tiny bins like on SeaWorld's Manta so guests don't complain as much about the ride having big enough bins after they were told to pay for lockers. << Really? I have no problems with GK's same side loading station as they designed to have enough space for traffic to move decently.

Of the major parks I have been to, Cedar Point usually has longer lines on average in terms of physical length, but Cedar Point does excel at moving them well. Efficiency is on the mind of every major ride's crew at all times. I will tell you from experience working a coaster with a short interval at Cedar Point that they will push efficiency at the expense of consistently enforcing rules and guest service. I learned quickly that enforcing rules like requiring guests to remove loose articles like hats and glasses after they have secured restrains comes only when its convenient. Then when you have time to enforce the rules on the next train, you get chewed out by a guest because, "I saw others wearing glasses without straps riding." In terms of interacting with guests, you have to be short with people by default. Being short with people often times comes off as rude, but you can't go into a detailed, explanation of rules or park procedures for more than a couple seconds or you will be holding the rest of the crew. You do not want to be labeled at the crew member who is always last to position even if you are following the rules right to the book. A particular example of the ways CP moves guests efficiently is on Magnum. I had it verified several times that they will give you an "operational" if the ride sets up meaning all three trains stack due to you not being fast enough. Getting one operational is one fourth of the way to being fired. Anyone who has worked any ride in their lifetime can tell you that most slowdowns that cause all of the ride's trains to stack is usually caused by a guest. Typically a slow down like this is something along the lines of a guest refusing to put away a phone or camera, an exceptionally sized guest not wanting to leave, or an instance where more than one guest does something like not buckling a seatbelt which slows down the restraint checking progress considerably. In other words, your job security can be affected by your luck with guests. I'm not sure if there is a better way to move guests other than being short in interactions and not enforcing some rules when they become inconvenient to enforce. I am not saying that Cedar Point is absolutely dangerous or generally rude to guests, but from what I experienced you have to cut some corners on the fine details to stay as fast as CP expects.

First Coaster - Comet, Waldameer Park First Steel Coaster - Dragon Mountain, Marineland (Also First Adult Coaster) First Woodie - Comet, Waldameer Park (Adult-sized: Predator, Darien Lake) First 100 ft Coaster - By Height: Dragon Mountain, Marineland. By Drop: Great Bear, Hersheypark First 200 ft Coaster - Ride of Steel, Darien Lake First Looping Coaster - Dragon Mountain, Marineland First Inverted - Mind Eraser, Darien Lake First B&M Invert - Great Bear, Hersheypark First Suspended - Top Gun/Flight Deck/The Bat, Kings Island First Launched Coaster - Flight of Fear, Kings Island First Standup - Mantis, Cedar Point First Flyer - Firehawk, Kings Dominion First Floorless - Dominator, Geauga Lake First B&M - Great Bear, Hersheypark First Intamin - Ride of Steel, Darien Lake First Premier - Flight of Fear, Kings Island First Gravity Group - Ravine Flyer II, Waldameer Park First Great Coasters International - Wildcat, Hersheypark First Custom Coasters International - Hurricane: Category 5, Myrtle Beach Pavilion First Arrow - Dragon Mountain, Marineland First Vekoma - Boomerang: Coast to Coaster, Darien Lake Favorite Wooden Coaster: The Voyage, Holiday World (Favorite Coaster Overall) Favorite Steel Coaster: Magnum XL-200, Cedar Point I never realized until now how monumental Marineland's Dragon Mountain was to my coaster enthusiast hobby. Very Interesting!

Wing Coaster Real Fact: Cedar Point used zip ties to modify the shoulder vests to prevent them from locking. If you found some vests still locked in random places, usually that meant a zip tie broke off at some point that day. A more permanent fix is in the works for 2014.

Waldameer was heavily considering a Maurer Skyloop sometime between 2009-2012. It would have been located across from Mega Vortex behind the Merry-Go-Round Grove. The proposal has yet to be completely declared dead, but there is no plan for construction. From start to completion, Ravine Flyer II went through three manufacturers (Dinn, Custom Coasters, and Gravity Group) in which the park started paying for the ride in 1993 and is still paying it off to this day. Feels like a home mortgage!

I don't find TTD to be glass smooth by any means, so I can only imagine what KK must be like if it's considered the more rough one of the two. Unfortunately KK was closed for my 2012 visit to SFGAdv to compare. As for ride experience of TTD and likely KK, the more I judge them as coasters, the more I'm disappointed. Simply put, there isn't much to it for a complete coaster ride in my opinion. If I think of TTD as a thrill ride, it fits the bill perfectly. Just like a drop tower, TTD has that one "holy crap" moment that is more than enough for most GP to talk about for hours if not days afterwards. The regular gravity drop is fun and pretty interesting being all twisty, but it is a far cry from that moment of the launch which defines the ride. Nowadays, TTD doesn't feel nearly as intense for myself, but it is still an excellent GP people pleaser. Therefore, TTD is an elite thrill ride to me that is also a good but not great coaster.

Before Blackfish was released to the United States, I did a small project for Sustainability Marketing where I researched the various programs companies within the Attractions Industry are doing to promote sustainable causes. Even after seeing Blackfish, I still can't discredit all of the great things SeaWorld and Busch are doing to promote education and conservation. Long story short, SeaWorld pretty much indicates without directly saying it that animals belong in their natural habitats before captivity. However, due to past events decades before, they are still obligated today to care for the animals and their offspring that have been brought into captivity by previous leadership and other related companies. Simply releasing these animals who have been bread and are residing in captivity would spell a painful, deadly, and inhumane ending. Today, SeaWorld uses their animals to generate money of course, but they are also using their animals and money generated from them to fund education and conservation programs. This concept is adopted by not only SeaWorld, but many zoos and aquariums worldwide. Blackfish hardly scratches or even meets the surface of the big picture of SeaWorld and everything they do. Do I think SeaWorld has been perfect? Absolutely not. But I do believe that they are a model company for their industry, and that they are always striving to improve the safety and well-being of their animals and employees. Keep your eyes out, it wouldn't surprise me to see some serious marketing about what they have done to improve the quality of life for their animals and the safety of their employees. If anything, I believe SeaWorld will come out of all of this even stronger than before Blackfish.

That thigh smashing into lapbar airtime pop right before the lift on Kennywood's Thunderbolt is one of my favorite pre-lift moments. An honorable mention goes to Knoebels Twister in the section between the two lifts. Because this is located in the part of the coaster that's before the "main ride," I'm going on out on a limb to consider it pre-lift despite being after one lift but before the second. The unique factor as well as the relatively intense laterals given the low speed are a nice preview to what's to come later in the ride. For some reason I'm also a sucker for long, slow sections before the lift on woodies like on The Beast. I'm not sure why, but I just like that before an intense ride.

Evil Knievel/American Thunder was a plop down from the filing cabinet since Six Flags needed a design from GCI four days. For GCI, the first part of a coaster they design is the storage/transfer track.